


The Amateur Hairstylist

by NotATorontonian (TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns)



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hair Braiding, Returning Home, Romance, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25492204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns/pseuds/NotATorontonian
Summary: In a hot Summer afternoon, Derek surprises Casey with a talent she did not expect.
Relationships: Casey McDonald/Derek Venturi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	The Amateur Hairstylist

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [Le Coiffeur](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26932063) by [NotATorontonian (TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns/pseuds/NotATorontonian)



Casey groans loudly, flopping onto the couch next to her boyfriend.

He looks up from his cell phone, smile spreading on his face. “Something wrong?”

She laid her legs across him. “Why it’s so hot out? We don’t live in Australia, is it really necessary for it to be…” She glanced at the thermometer near the kitchen’s screen door. “…Thirty-two degrees outside?”

Derek chuckles and turns off his cell phone, setting it aside on the coffee table. “I didn’t realize you hated the heat that much, Princess. Worried it will mess with your skin routine?”

“You love it when I moisturize and I know it.” She responded haughtily, hitting him with a pillow and dropping her head back onto another. “Are we in hell?”

Derek raises an eyebrow. “It can’t be. You’re here.”

Casey rolls her eyes, cheeks flushing. “I didn’t ask for a cheesy comment.”

“You’re the one that said yes when I asked you out. You’re the one that insisted for _years_ I should be more romantic. The way I see it, it’s your fault.” He runs a hand down her leg when she groans again. “Would getting your hair from your neck help?”

“What?”

“Your hair.” He says simply, as though that is what she was asking about.

“You’d know how to do that?”

Derek lifts her legs, slipping out from under them. “Wait here.”

He walks up the stairs two steps at a time, in a way she was sure he would eventually trip and break his jaw.

The house was awfully silent, as Marti, Simon and their parents were off to the public pool, enjoying the Summer heat, Lizzie was practicing indoor tennis with their father in Toronto and Edwin was at the mall, on a shift at the movie theatre. Derek and Casey, home from college for the Summer, were blissfully home alone.

Upstairs, he walked down the hall to her room, expertly locating her beauty box, sitting neatly on top of her dressing table. He returns a minute later with a black hair tie and a brush in his hands.

“Sit up.” He asks, smirk in place. She complies, sitting straight up, brushing some rebel strands of her auburn hair from the sides of her face.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Casey asks, turning her back to Derek.

His hands run through your hair once, fingers close together, skimming for any knots. “When mom left, dad was a disaster with Marti’s hair. Never learned, really. So, I asked Sam’s older sister to teach me how to do it, and I braided her hair every morning until you, Lizzie and Nora moved in.”

“Mom never said anything about it.” She said, thoughtfully.

He chuckled. “I guess Marti liked that Nora did her hair. She found hers pretty when she was little.”

“If she had told Mom that when she cut it off in the Spring, she wouldn’t have been so shocked.” She said, and then they laughed at the side cut their youngest sister was sporting these days.

The two of them fall into a brief silence, in which Casey enjoyed Derek’s hand on her scalp. “I can’t tell why Marti would prefer Mom over you, though. She was always a brute when untying knots, while you do it softly. I can see you have had practice.”

He shrugs ambivalent as he starts to part her hair. “I suppose I never really forgot how to do it.” A deviant smile takes over his features. “I must admit, though, that is a good trump card to have. Imagine that, a hot day like that, my girlfriend complaining about her hair. Me, being all considerate and taking over a girl’s hairstylist for a few hours. That would get me laid.”

“Oh, a hairstylist, you say?” She teased him. “Are you sure you don’t want to go into that instead of professional hockey? I’m sure you’d be surrounded by women all day.”

“I’ve toyed with the idea, but then I decided against it. Too much skill necessary.” He says, giving her hair a slight, playful tug.

“Well, if you do a good job, then I’ll be most obliged to return the favour.” She smirked back at him.

“I’m at your service, Princess.” He laughs softly.

Casey falls quiet as he twists her hair into a simple braid. It was looser than she would like, perhaps more fittingly to a rambunctious child such as Marti, and a bit of her hair bumps up at the top of her head, but she otherwise could not complain.

He drops it against her back. “Finished. How do you like it?”

Casey runs a hand over it, grinning like a fool. “It’s wonderful, thank you.”

He lets out a short laugh. “Good.”

She leans back, resting her head on his shoulder and smiling up at him. “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He presses a kiss to her button nose. “Now, where was that retribution you promised?”

Before Casey could respond, a yawn stops her reply, sending Derek into a cute laugh. “Tired?”

She shakes her head petulantly, but the new couch of their family’s living room was very comfortable, there was soft pillows around, and the heat rids her of any need to use a blanket.

“Why don’t you lie down?” Derek scoots over, allowing Casey the room to lay down. She swings her feet onto the arm rests of the couch, head landing on his lap.

“You sure you won’t be bored?” She asks, another yawn splitting her face.

He reaches for his cell phone and lifts it, tapping it lightly against her sweaty forehead. “I’ll keep myself busy. Just sleep.”

She closes her eyes, nestling against him. “If you say so.”

Casey spend the rest of the afternoon napping peacefully on and off while Derek plays with his fantasy hockey team, brushing his hand over her cheek whenever she wakes up, returning her groggy smile and laughing to himself whenever she drifts back to sleep.


End file.
